Dental implant systems are widely used for replacing damaged or lost natural teeth. In such systems, a dental fixture is placed in the jawbone of a patient in order to replace the natural tooth root. An abutment structure comprising one or several parts may then be attached to the fixture in order to build up a core for the part of the prosthetic tooth protruding from the bone tissue, through the soft gingival tissue and into the mouth of the patient. On said abutment, the prosthesis or crown may finally be seated.
The final prosthesis should be sized and configured so as to naturally fit with the remaining teeth of the patient, both for functionality and aesthetics. To this end a dental technician may try out a proper prosthesis for the individual patient, using a model of the jaw of the patient, said model including the fixture. The dental technician may also digitally work out a proper prosthesis based on a digital model of the jaw of the patient either with a fixture already installed or prior to such installation. The dental technician may also modify a pre-fabricated abutment to match the contour of the soft gingival tissue.
Some abutment/fixture interfaces are designed with radial indexing protrusions and matching indexing recesses. For instance, the abutment may be provided with the radial protrusions which are adapted to mate with corresponding recesses in the fixture when the two components are to be joined. Dentists sometimes experience difficulties in aligning the abutment so that the protrusions mate with the recesses in the fixture. Indeed the dentist may have to rotate the abutment back and forth until the correct orientation is found and the protrusions engage with the recesses.
An object of the invention is to make it easier for dentists to connect a dental component, such as an abutment, to a fixture compared to the currently available solutions.
This and other objectives, which will become apparent in the following, are achieved by the dental component, the dental fixture and the dental implant as defined in the accompanied claims.